Seize the Day, the first Broadway Rant

A few weeks ago, Stephanie suggested we go to New York City for Memorial Day. It took me about three seconds to decide that sounded like a fabulous idea, especially when she mentioned Broadway musicals, shopping, and awesome food.

I mostly want to talk about the shows we saw, so I will just briefly mention that, while we were there, we ate at the Shake Shack, the Cafeteria, a hot dog cart, a deli by our hotel, the place pictured left and right in Little Italy, and we stopped for dessert at Momofuku Milk Bar and Magnolia Bakery. With the exception of Magnolia's red velvet cupcake, everything else was delicious.

We went into Dash, which is a store that exclusively sells Kardashian merchandise. I tried to take a picture, but a security guard stopped me.

Also, I now own a shirt that says "Clear eyes, full hearts can't lose," on the front, and "Dillon Panthers" on the back, from the NBC store. I struggled with whether or not to get one that said "East Dillon Lions," also, and I was a little disappointed that there was no Riggins 33. End of TV geek rant.

Beginning of Broadway Geek Rant: Somehow, we decided that we needed to see a musical every night. We bought tickets in advance for Saturday and Sunday, but took a chance on half priced tickets on Friday as soon as we got to Times Square. The show we ended up picking was Memphis.

At this point in my in rant, I would like to disclose that my style of Broadway musical selection normally goes something like this:

1. Pick a show with a famous Broadway performer headlining who is also originating the production, so I can buy the soundtrack and pretend I'm back at the theater (See this post).

2. Pick a show with the original cast (see above).

3. Pick a show with a famous Broadway performer.

4. Pick a show I think I would like.

5. Pick a show I know I like.

It sounds backward, and slightly pretentious. Also, I am not a fan of jukebox musicals, and I try not to see anything I have seen before, even it wasn't on Broadway, and even if I loved it.

Our criteria for selecting Memphis went like this:

1. Pick three shows that are available (this eliminated The Lion King and that other musical that makes fun of our religion).

2. Narrow it down to 2 we would both be willing to see (that eliminated Anything Goes and Rock of Ages).

3. Pick the one with the cheapest tickets (that eliminated Spider-man).

Memphis fit all criteria on the second list, and criterion 3 on the first list, which I didn't realize until we were standing in line at the theater. It is the story of a mostly fictitious DJ in Memphis during the 1950's who first began playing "black" rock and roll on white radio stations. Adam Pascal (right) played the DJ, Huey Calhoun.

Adam Pascal is best known on Broadway for having played Roger in the original production of Rent (he's also in the movie with some seriously bad hair), as well as the original Radames in Aida. Fun fact: he can also be seen in the movie School of Rock, with Jack Black, as the leader of the band Jack Black's character was kicked out of at the beginning of the movie (bad hair again).

Adam Pascal was not part of the OBC (original Broadway cast), but I have watched a few minutes of the original cast on Netflix, and I have to say, I liked his performance better. Pascal plays the DJ as quirky, while the original actor is more like Forrest Gump. Also, while I have previously professed that Pascal sings like he is constipated, I have since retracted that statement. Because of Memphis, I am officially a fan. I am also now a fan of Montego Glover, who played Huey's love interest, Felicia. She is less well-known, but no less talented.

Memphis, itself, was great. It was fun, the songs were catchy, and the dancing was great. Rest assured, as soon as I have money again, I will be buying this soundtrack.

The second night, we went to see Newsies.

Newsies was the first musical I ever loved. I bought the soundtrack at MediaPlay (remember MediaPlay?) when I was probably about 12 or 13. Newsies was a movie musical made by Disney in 1992, which featured Christian Bale as the head newsboy in the late 1800's, when the newsboys went on strike against the newspaper owners, including Joseph Pulitzer, who was played in the movie by Robert Duvall. It is a vaguely true story. Twenty years later, Christian Bale is better known for being Batman, and the musical is now on Broadway. It met criteria 2 and 5 on my Broadway ranking system, but Stephanie picked it, and I couldn't have been happier.

First of all, I got to sit on an actual chair, which made me tall enough to see everything, which doesn't always happen. We also had awesome seats (we were in the center of the last row in the orchestra section). The musical was modified for Broadway, which could have ruined childhood memories for me, but I was very pleased with all the adaptations to the music and story, to the point that I didn't even miss the original actors. Jeremy Jordan (not the early 90's pop singer) played Jack Kelly, and was not only a great singer and dancer, but also hit the Broadway leading man requirement of having a cleft chin.

The dancing in general was fantastic, incorporating ballet, tap, and gymnastic moves that seemed to defy laws of physics. It sort of put the original choreography in the movie to shame. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to take kids to see something on Broadway.

The third show was the one I picked, Porgy and Bess, which, according to the Broadway ranking system, was a 1, as it was the original cast revival and featured Audra McDonald as Bess.

Audra McDonald completes the trifecta (with Kristin Chenoweth, Lea Salonga) of my favorite Broadway actresses, all of whom I have now seen live (Sutton Foster runs a close fourth. I would have pushed to see Anything Goes if she were still in it, instead of starring in a TV show written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, which I will also watch).

Audra McDonald was in the original production of Ragtime, as well as a recent production of 110 in the Shade, among many, many other Broadway productions. She performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir a few years ago, but she is probably best known for her role on Private Practice, which, when it originally aired, was on right after Pushing Daisies, which featured Kristin Chenoweth. Also on Private Practice was Taye Diggs, who played her ex-husband, who is also a Broadway performer, in addition to being married to Idina Menzel, who I would also love to see in a Broadway show. Whew.

Audra McDonald was perfect as Bess, which was a different role than anything I had ever seen her in before, but one for which she just won a Tony. Porgy was played by Norm Lewis, who I recognized as Javert in the most recent Les Miserables in Concert special that PBS is airing RIGHT NOW AS I AM TYPING THIS. He has an incredible voice, and his performance as a man with limited use of one of his legs was insane. Also, the supporting cast had these really chilling harmonies that were amazing to listen to.

Porgy and Bess, though, is much more like an opera than anything else we saw. Like I said, the performances were incredible, but the music itself was pretty highbrow, and the story of a poor fishing community was pretty sad. It had the least singable soundtrack. I would recommend it if you want something more artsy, or if you really love Audra McDonald.

It was a great weekend. It has sort of ruined me for my regular life, but isn't that what vacations are for?

Also, after I started writing this, I realized I had a lot more to say about Broadway musicals in general, so consider this the first in a series of posts about musicals. I apologize if that is not your thing.